I just purchased a CFX composite fore grip from Mud Hole. Very nice and light. The part has a matt finish and does not look as if it has a coating over it.

My question is can I use it as is or do I have to put a protective coating over it. Does anyone have any experience with grip.

Thanks

john

You don't have to coat it with anything, but you can if you want.

............

I have them on three of my rods. Two that are factory built, one I made using the CFX kit. The one I made and one of the ones from the factory I left as is, the other I top coated with the lay up epoxy and Permagloss. As Tom said you don't have to coat them with anything. When the grips are made the carbon fiber sleeve is thoroughly wetted. The epoxy comes through the carbon fiber weave and even though it doesn't look like it, it completely encapsulates the fibers. They are very strong and very resistant to scuffing and marking, but ..... they do and will collect dirt. Usually pretty easy to clean, but not always.

The one I top coated cleans very easily, looks absolutely beautiful, and is not in the least bit slippery to grip. The only time it gets slippery is if I have an oily substance on my hands. Fish slime, sun block .... stuff like that. Even though it shiny smooth the grip on it is very good with simply wet hands.

I like to top coat with Permagloss. Very easy to do,and gives a very hard, and durable clear gloss finish that will not yellow. This is how it done courtesy of Tom Kirkman.
[m.youtube.com]
If you don’t have a lathe then use a cordless drill. Slide the grip over some sort of mandrel, Chuck into the drill and turn while applying the Permagloss with a foam brush. You can apply a second coat, if you want, after 30 min, or so.
Norm

I used permagloss on my stealth rod, one coat looks good, but for the way that rods setup it needed to be a little less ruff.. My brothers rod i applied about 5ish coats.. It looks like its encased in a gel.. Kinda neat.. And remarkably grippy

I've built several steelhead rods with these grips. The first I coated with Threadmaster Lite. It cleans up very well, but for fishing in 20 degree weather with a wool glove on, it does get slippery. The next two steelhead rods I built with the CFX grips, I did not coat them. Wading for steelhead, your hands get wet a lot and with cold or wet hands, I would not want these grips coated. The decision to coat or not to coat depends on how the rod will be used, IMO.

I don't feel that smooth grips are any less secure to use than the grips as they come from the supplier. I have yet have my framing hammer, axe, sledge, or splitting maul going flying out of my hand under use, with, or without gloves on, nor has my firearms. My Buck 110 folder never failed me in or out of water at all temps in my 20 years in the Coast Guard.

The series on grip ergonomics that ran in RodMaker a couple years ago included data from various tool industry studies on how smooth surface grips and rails changed, or not, when wet, etc. In nearly all cases, smooth grips and rails, when wet, showed no increase in "slipperiness" nor required more grasp strength from the user. The only difficulty encountered was when the grip or rail, when wet, was coated with a soap or similar lubricant. Fish slime could be considered one of these, although fish slime is not too hard to wash or wipe off in=between fish.

...........

Thanks for the responses. My concern is not about the "slipperiness" during use but whether the weave as received is fully impregnated and requires no further treatment.

David B addressed that issue, so if it is good to handle as received I will opt to use it as is.

Any other comments will be appreciated.

John

To me, after a full day on the water its a bit abrasive to the hand.. Ive worked cknstruction my whole life.. So i dont have soft hands.. The spot that got to me was the rear grip on the back of my palm

Robert, I could definitely see the smooth top coated grips as being a handful to hold on to while wearing wool or jersey type gloves. Definitely not something I would want under your scenario. And Anthony, I can see your point. The one rod I have one of the non-coated grips on, is a flipping and pitching rod so my hand position on the rod only has the heal of my hand in contact with the grip. If that is the only rod I'm using all day it can get a bit tender, so yeah, something to consider

These type of carbon grip are on 98% of all my builds in the last 8 years or so. I have never had one fail, and these include both coated and uncoated (some are Batson, my own creations and CFX). I have a very large amount of them being used in many levels of tournament fishing and have yet to have a failure...(knock on wood).

I personally think they are perfect for me and meet the needs for my builds.

As a side note I have only one rod( that is mine thankfully) that has any wear. That wear is where the spar urethane had chipped in a few places. But a slight sanding and new coat resolved that problem. The wear occurred last year; however, it is a 7 year old build.

Tom

The material used in these grips is prepegged into the graphite sleeve and very sticky, the epoxy is baked into the grip just like it is on a rod blank. My 130 lb. Wife has demonstrated the durability on the same grip maybe 20 times over the last 2 years by stepping on it, you wouldn't know it by looking at it or feeling it.